Hitching Through the Hills

On a recent three-day weekend, I took the opportunity to visit Nelson, which is on the northern shore of the South Island. I had only ever heard good things about Nelson, so I was curious to see what it had to offer. Getting there was the first challenge, however. The bus network would follow a longer route and arrive after dark, while hitching on the less busy inland route was far from a guaranteed success. In the end, I decided to keep things interesting and hitch.

Being an employee of Arthur's Pass Café and Store, I get free rides on the Atomic shuttle that stops in the village if there is space available. So I took the bus to Stillwater and began to hitch along Highway 7. I've previously referred to Stillwater as "Backwater" - it's just too easy - but there was enough traffic that I got a ride within 15 minutes. It was only a dairy farmer heading to the next village after doing his grocery shopping in Greymouth, but it was a start.

A slow start, as it turned out. I waited outside the next village - Ngahere - for two hours. When I finally decided to start walking and get a change of scenery, an SUV pulled over almost instantly. The driver reached across and flung the door open, simultaneously talking on a mobile phone and chasing one of his small dogs into the back seat. As I sat and listened to him debate crayfish prices, the dog reclaimed his spot, this time on my lap. He eventually hung up his phone, and after a ride of about 30 minutes, I left the driver and the dogs behind in Ikamatua and began to walk again.

I marched past cow pastures and appreciated the unusually good weather for about 10 minutes before another car stopped. It was driven by Dave, a gold miner heading home to Reefton. He had just gotten out of a troubling situation, and was keen to give me all the details. I'm not keen to do the same, so I'll just say it involved the end of a long relationship and a brief stint in prison.

Once in Reefton, Dave left me at a spot that turned out to be on the wrong road. I managed to redirect myself - Reefton was the biggest town I'd seen all day, but it was easy enough - and starting walking out of town. My ride turned out to be a minivan driven by an Australian foster mother, accompanied by one of her children. She was full of information about the area, and indicated a spot where a landslide had covered an entire village. The ride was over all too soon, and they left me in Inangahua Junction.

I barely had time to start walking out of Inangahua Junction before a car pulled over. It had two mountain bikes on the back, two occupants, and a back seat packed with gear, but they made space. My new travel partners were two American guys, both from the Northeast and making their way up from Queenstown. They were going all the way in to Nelson, and although I was out of my depth when they brought up mountain biking, we all thoroughly enjoyed the scenery.

Every time I hitch, I am reminded how fun it is. I almost enjoyed getting to Nelson more than I did the city itself! But it does deserve its own post, so watch this space.

What lay ahead of me in Stillwater.

Also in Stillwater.

In Reefton.

If this place had its own phone book, I could probably rip it in half.

Rugby for Beginners

Recalling previous posts, such as this and this, it is apparent that I have not written about rugby in far too long!

Athletic seasons in the southern hemisphere obviously differ from those to which I'm accustomed because the seasons here are reversed. The World Cup that I so thoroughly enjoyed in Wellington brought an end to rugby for 2011, right as summer was beginning. Now that the leaves are starting to fall and the days are getting shorter (and I'm once again mixed up by the seasons changing at the opposite time), rugby season is in full swing.

Rugby season in New Zealand includes multiple consecutive competitions, and the first is the Super 15. Originally the Super 12, this competition includes teams from South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia. It essentially operates like any North American sports league, but the travel distances involved are staggering. I used to hate it when the Red Sox played on the West coast because it started three hours later...but when New Zealand teams play in South Africa, the game starts at 3 AM in New Zealand!

To further complicate the logistics, Christchurch's stadium was rendered unusable by last year's earthquakes. Their team played "home" games all over the world, and somehow still made the final. This year, however, they have a temporary new home in Christchurch, and my flatmate Austen and I decided to take advantage of the low ticket prices and the relative proximity to Arthur's Pass to take in a live game.

Rugby fans need not read the following: the team from Christchurch (and the Canterbury region as a whole) is called the Crusaders, and they're in red. The opposition is the Stormers, who represent Cape Town, and they're in blue.

Before the Crusaders appeared.

The opposite stand had flamethrowers mounted on it for key moments.